Ente (German)
Where does "Ente" come from?
The German word "Ente" descends from the Proto-West Germanic *anad and the older Proto-Indo-European root *h₂énh₂ts, meaning "duck." Over centuries, the word evolved through Middle High German to reflect the bird's status in culture, eventually acquiring secondary meanings like a bedpan or the iconic Citroën 2CV. Interestingly, its use to mean a "canard" or a false report is a 19th-century translation borrowing from the French word "canard."
Full etymology tree
- Ente (German), 'duck (aquatic bird of the family Anatidae)'
- inherited ente (Middle High German)
- inherited enita (Old High German), 'duck'
- inherited *anad (Proto-West Germanic), 'duck'
- inherited *anadz (Proto-Germanic), 'duck'
- inherited *h₂énh₂ets (Pre-Germanic)
- inherited *h₂énh₂ts (Proto-Indo-European), 'duck'
- inherited *h₂énh₂ets (Pre-Germanic)
- inherited *anadz (Proto-Germanic), 'duck'
- inherited *anad (Proto-West Germanic), 'duck'
- inherited enita (Old High German), 'duck'
- inherited ente (Middle High German)
Ancestors
- *anad (Proto-West Germanic)
- canard (French)
Cognates and doublets
- eend (Dutch)
Descendants and derived words
- Eiderente (German)
- Entenbraten (German)
- Entenbrust (German)
- Entenhausen (German)
- Entenkeule (German)
- Entenküken (German)
- Ententanz (German)
- Ententeich (German)
- Enterich (German)
- Entlein (German)
- Gummiente (German)
- Krickente (German)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris